Cure for Insomnia
by BalderdashAndHappenstance
Summary: Set the same night as Rumple's banishment, Hook helps Emma temporarily cure her ongoing problem with insomnia with the help of some rum.


Emma had been awake for several minutes, and her eyes had adjusted to the dark of the room. A glance at the digital alarm clock told her it was still the middle of the night. She sighed. It had been a while since she had managed to sleep a whole night through. Hell, it had been a while since she had been able to fall asleep before dawn, so this was a victory in its own right, really. The even breathing to her left was peaceful, and she found herself feeling somewhat envious. Sleeping without tossing and turning and waking up in a sweat sounded positively blissful. Not that what they had just done wasn't...well maybe it wasn't blissful, though certainly very very good... but she did miss sleep.

Bored of the dark ceiling and walls, Emma turned onto her side, her head resting on her bent arm, facing the pirate who lay sleeping less than an arm's length away. The thought made her smile despite herself. Sharing a bed with a pirate. Now there's something she never thought she'd experience; at least not outside of the odd fantasy here and there. And then she had actually met one. And he had been an ass. A pretty ass, but an ass nonetheless. He'd done some seriously bad things, even in the time that she'd known him, but there had been a change in him. It had taken time and tragedy, but they had settled into a tense sort of friendship. It was only recently that Emma had really stopped actively pushing him away. This was about the worst place to navigate any kind of complicated relationship. Everything was complicated here from family trees to the basic rules of magic. The latest bout of town drama had finally passed and she had learned more about herself and her past in the process. Also, Captain Hook had very nearly been murdered by Rumplestiltskin. She quietly let out half a laugh at the sheer absurdity of that fact. What a screwed up place. And now there was another magical mystery ahead. She lifted a hand and dragged it over her face in bemused frustration. This place was nothing but trouble, however tonight was not the night to worry about it. Nobody was in immediate danger anyway.

She curled her knees up to try and warm her feet in a toastier patch of mattress without disturbing her bedmate. It didn't quite work. Killian stirred and grabbed for the blanket, pulling it up a bit before actually opening his eyes and lazily looking over at Emma. She must have been staring, because he flashed her a toothy grin before turning toward her and propping his head up on his hand, almost striking a pose. He looked ridiculous, and she grinned. "Nice. You should see yourself."

"No need, love." he winked. "Devilishly handsome as usual, I'm sure."

Emma reached over and flattened a section of his dark hair that had been sticking out at an odd angle. "If you say so."

"And I do." His self-satisfied smile softened slightly as he studied her face. She was sure she didn't look any more put together than he did. "Swan, have you slept at all? What's the time?"

Killian made a movement to look over her shoulder at the clock, but she put a hand out to stop him and let out a tired breath. "It's late. Or early. Depends how you look at it." He opened his mouth to speak, but she continued, "And yes, I did get some sleep." In an effort to brighten the somewhat concerned look on his face, she added "I guess you tired me out." and smiled.

"Glad to be of service!" He winked at her again, but there was less cheek in it this time. After a pause, he continued "Is this normal for you? Not sleeping, I mean." He squinted at her in the darkness. "It appears to be."

She sighed and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling again. There wasn't really any use in denying it. "Yeah. It's pretty normal at this point, I guess."

He propped himself up higher so he could look down at her. "'At this point'? How long has it been?"

Emma closed her eyes, not really wanting to discuss it, but not seeing a point in avoiding it. "Weeks? Longer? I don't know." She thought for a moment. "I really have no idea." She felt the surprising chill of his hook slide across her forehead and she opened her eyes. He had pulled a strand of hair away from her face. "Careful with that. I'd like to keep both my eyes."

Something flickered over his features, but she couldn't place it before it was gone, hidden behind a smile "Of course. Wouldn't want to mar that lovely visage" there was no tease in his voice, but it had changed tone a little. After a long pause he asked, "Have you tried Rumplestiltskin? Perhaps he has something that could help you sleep."

Propping herself up on her own elbow now, she raised both eyebrows at him in disbelief. "Gold? Of all people, Gold?"

"Well," he said a little defensively "he has some interest in helping you, hasn't he?" He looked uncertain for a moment "Being Henry's grandfather..."

Emma gave a dry laugh. "That just means he might help Henry. Possibly." She paused a moment and considered "Anyway, after the crap he just pulled, I wonder what shape he'll be in when Belle's done with him. She looked like she meant business when they smoked off."

Killian nodded in agreement, "Aye, that she did." He paused and quirked an eyebrow curiously. "What will she do, though? Send him to sleep on the floor?"

"Sleep on the floor? Do you remember Lacey?"

"Who the devil is Lacey?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Belle's cursed persona." Emma thought for a moment and realized it was actually pretty likely he'd never met that version of the librarian. "Well, let's just say there's more than meets the eye with that one."

"Good then." His expression darkened. "I wouldn't mind not seeing the crocodile for a while."

"On that note, how's your...uh..." She touched his chest over his newly-returned heart "...you know. Doing ok?"

At her touch, his eyes seemed to clear and he smiled again. "If I weren't sufficiently recovered, I don't think our earlier...activities...would have been terribly successful." He lowered his head and looked up at her slyly, a very practiced move, she could tell "And we were successful, were we not?"

She rolled her eyes at him, not wanting to feed that ego, but unable to deny it. She pulled his chin up with a finger to break the look he was giving her. "Yes, Hook. And you know it."

"Killian, love" he corrected quietly.

"I...yeah. Killian." It had always felt strange to use his given name. Too personal and familiar despite the fact they had now slept together. How much more familiar can you get? She supposed she would have to get used to it. It wasn't as if she could deny she had feelings for him. She hadn't been able to do that for quite a while if she was honest with herself. She lowered her head back onto her pillow, still facing him and reached forward and put a hand against his chest again. This time, she just wanted to touch him; to feel the rise and fall beneath her hand as he breathed, the beating of his heart right where it should be. She could feel him watching her, but he didn't interrupt the moment. It was a while before she spoke. "What now?" She didn't look at his face when she asked, not wanting to see the beginning of some tease in response.

"What now?" He paused for a moment and then abruptly rolled away from her to the edge of the bed.

She sat up, a little taken aback by his sudden departure. "Hey!"

He reached for something down on the floor which judging by the sounds of rustling, was buried in their discarded clothing. He evidently found what he was looking for, because he sat up and grabbed the water glass by his side of the bed, splashed it out against the wall and poured a dark liquid in instead. Turning back to her, he held it out between them. "Now..." He froze for a second and then grinned, looking her up and down. Emma glanced down and then grabbed the sheet, pulling it up to cover herself. She had completely forgotten she was naked. She raised an eyebrow at him, just daring him to say something about it. Handing her the glass, he started again "Now, Swan, we get you back to sleep."

She took the glass and sniffed it, though she had a good idea of what it was already, and made a face. "With rum?" It was rather a lot. She wouldn't have doubted it was most of what he'd had.

"Well, we haven't anything else on hand that'll do the trick, have we?" He pointed out matter-of-factly.

"True..." she admitted, raising the glass and making a decision. Taking a breath, she scrunched her nose and determinedly drank it all down. "Ugh!" she coughed "That's awful" and shook her head as she tried to ignore the lingering taste and burn of the alcohol. She could even feel it in her nose, which she rubbed with the back of her hand.

Killian sat smiling at her, impressed, both eyebrows raised as he took back the empty glass and set it back on the side table. "Well done, Swan!"

"Yeah, well." she cleared her throat "Practice."

He laughed a bit at that. "I don't doubt it." After a moment, he looked down at his hook and said, "If we're falling asleep properly this time, then off with this." With a sharp twist and a pull, the hook detached and he dropped it over the side of the bed onto the pile of clothes. It was a little strange to see him without his hook. True, the first time she had met him, he had nothing but cloth covering the stump of his wrist, and he had even once had his own hand reattached. Still, it was odd. She had to admit it was nice not to be nervous of accidental lacerations in bed, though.

"Ever considered getting your hand back again?" she asked, both to fill the time until the drink hit her, and out of genuine curiosity. "Gold has it again, right?"

He gazed down at his hookless stump. "Considered? Oh, yes." He looked back to her "It was a welcome change for a short while..." the sentence trailed off and he was quiet for a minute, eyes clearly seeing things that she couldn't. After a bit, he took a breath and smiled again. "I couldn't possibly afford the price anyway, whatever it may be now. I had leverage the first time."

"If there were no price? I mean, hypothetically. Would you?"

That same almost-missed flicker of something passed through his expression again. "Does it bother you, Swan?" He didn't meet her eyes, looking across the room instead.

Sensing she'd said something wrong, Emma inched a little closer to him and frowned. She had definitely made a misstep. There was something in his face that she hadn't seen there before. Was he embarrassed? It was a strange look on a man who seemed to have nothing but preening self confidence most of the time. "Hey, what? No." She reached over and grabbed his hand. "No, it doesn't bother me."

Still avoiding looking at her, he stared down at his hand in hers. "Would you prefer if I could reach a deal again? If I could hold you with two hands?"

"No." She said firmly, squeezing his hand. "Hey..." She waited until he looked at her and gave him a small smile before adding "I really don't care if you're Captain Hook or Captain Hand."

For a moment, his expression was blank and then his eyebrows shot up and he laughed. Emma smiled more broadly. The tense moment had broken, and she was glad it had because she was starting to feel her muscles relax a little and warmth spread through her body as the drink did its work. "Do you need to be home early?" Killian asked almost out of nowhere, glancing at the curtains on the window, probably checking for sunlight.

Emma shook her head. "No, Henry is with Regina."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Good, I mean, that you won't be rushed come morning." He grinned "Not only because you just drank a pirate's share of rum."

Emma nodded and let herself mentally drift on the slight sway that came with the movement. This is why she didn't make a habit of drinking strong beverages quickly. It usually hit her all at once. Though tonight, that was really the point, wasn't it? She knew it would probably bite her in the ass in the morning. She didn't much care at the moment, though. She could feel her brain going pleasantly fuzzy. "Right." She said more slowly than she intended. "Fair point." And she leaned over against him, closing her eyes, enjoying the contact.

She felt Hook shift to look down at her against him, evidently hearing in her voice that the drink was taking effect. He lifted her chin and waited for her to open her eyes. She blinked up at him and he smiled. He really did have amazingly blue eyes. "Time to sleep?"

"Mmm." She agreed. Her whole body was feeling heavy and leaden and her eyelids were no exception. Any other thoughts she might have been forming were smothered by the fog in her mind. All she wanted was to curl into her pirate and drift away.

"Wonderful." he said, shifting so that she had to sit up or fall over. "Lets get you settled in, shall we?" It annoyed her a little that he was making her move, but when she realized it was so they could lay properly in the bed again, she kissed his shoulder and slithered down between the sheets.

When he joined her under the sheets, Emma didn't hesitate to press up against him, making as much contact as she could, wanting just to be close. One side effect that she rarely ever enjoyed about alcohol was its ability to make her feel numb. Helpful for pain and sleep, extremely unhelpful for anything else. She draped a leg over one of his and settled a hand on his chest, running her fingers over the coarse dark hair there as she closed her eyes. She let herself be lulled almost to sleep before she suddenly tensed and lifted her head, hand balled into a weak fist. "Don't go anywhere, ok?"

She could hear the smile in his voice as he asked, "Go? There is nowhere I would rather be, love."

She relaxed against him once more, but she couldn't help mumbling "Just...Killian...stay with me."

She felt his hand curl up over her side as he said quietly, "Don't worry, Emma. I will"

As sleep and rum finally carried her away, she felt a kiss on the top of her head and she smiled, feeling safe and content for the first time in a long time. 


End file.
